Meditation for beginners

A Cleveland Clinic doctor puts it simply: “The purpose of meditation is simply to meditate.” Your only task is to notice when your mind wanders and come back.

Each time your mind wanders, you bring your attention back. That returning is the exercise, like lifting a weight for your attention.

NCCIH advises not to use meditation to replace care from a health professional, or to put off seeing one about a problem.

It does not need to be special. One Cleveland Clinic doctor suggests meditating in your parked car when you arrive at work, with your keys in your lap.

Ideas

• A chair by a window
• A corner of your bedroom
• A park bench
• Your parked car
• The same spot each day, if you can

Sit in a way that lets you be relaxed and alert. A chair with your feet flat on the floor works well. You can also sit on a cushion, kneel, or lie down if sitting hurts.

Try

• Hands resting in your lap or on your thighs
• Jaw and shoulders soft
• Back upright but not stiff
• Eyes closed, or open with a soft downward gaze

Experts suggest a few minutes a day to start. A Cleveland Clinic doctor often recommends beginning with just one minute.

Linking practice to something you already do each day, like after breakfast, can help it stick.

Use a soft alarm or a guided session that ends on its own. The app’s Meditation activity does this for you, with a calm closing at the end.

A Cleveland Clinic doctor’s one-minute meditation: breathe in for five seconds and out for five seconds as a warm-up, then do that five more times. That’s it.

Some people find focusing on the breath makes them anxious. You can rest your attention on sounds, your hands, or your feet on the floor instead.

For more breathing practices, see Breathing basics.

Simple and always available. Good for building steady attention.

Start comfortable, take a few deep breaths, then notice your feet. Let your attention travel up through your legs, stomach, arms, hands, neck and head, simply checking in without trying to change anything.

The app’s Body scan activity guides you through this, one area at a time.

In emotion-centered meditation you focus on a feeling, such as kindness to others.

Try the “Kindness” session in the app’s Meditation activity, or see Loving-kindness (metta) for yourself & others.

In mantra meditation, you repeat a phrase or sound, aloud or in your head. It can be a word like “peace” or a word from your faith.

Walking meditation can feel less intimidating than sitting with your thoughts. A Cleveland Clinic therapist says walking “builds a little bit of a bridge of comfort.”

See Mindful moments in everyday life for a step-by-step walking practice.

Visual meditation focuses on something you can see, or a picture in your mind.

Try the “Calm place” session in the app’s Meditation activity.

A short pause for busy moments: notice your feet, take three slow breaths, name things you can see and hear, soften your body, and choose your next step.

Guides you to notice your breath as it is, then gently slow it down, with longer breaths out.

Practice noticing a thought, placing it on a cloud and letting it float away, without fighting it.

Simple kind wishes for yourself, someone you love, someone you barely know, and everyone.

“Calm place” helps you picture a safe, peaceful place, real or imagined, using all your senses. “Wind down for sleep” is made for bedtime.

If a racing mind keeps you awake, see Racing mind at night: anxiety & sleep.

• Length: Short (about 4 minutes), Medium (about 6) or Long (about 10)
• Music: calm tracks, ocean waves, rain or no music, at low, medium or high volume
• Voice: pick from four guide voices, or Text only to read at your own pace

You can also try the Body scan and Breathe activities in the same Activities tab.

A Cleveland Clinic doctor calls the breath “a proxy for the present.” Every time you find yourself thinking, it is a chance to return to the breath.

Try

• Counting breaths from one to ten, then starting again
• Labeling thoughts with one word, like “planning”
• Using a guided session so a voice brings you back
• Shorter sits, more often

• Meditating at a more awake time of day
• Opening your eyes with a soft gaze
• Sitting up instead of lying down
• Trying walking meditation

If you are always sleepy, it may be a sign to look at your sleep. Talk with your clinical provider if tiredness doesn’t lift.

The NHS suggests gentle yoga or walking if your mind feels too busy to settle. Moving with attention is still meditation.

Try noticing boredom itself: where do you feel it? Does it change? Switching styles now and then can also keep practice fresh.

Feelings sometimes surface when we slow down. You can open your eyes, take a few breaths, or stop. If strong feelings keep coming up, talk with someone you trust or a therapist.

Some days you will stay with the breath easily, and other days you will barely feel you meditated. “It doesn’t matter,” says a Cleveland Clinic doctor. “It’s all about practicing.”

Habits form by repeating an action in the same situation, such as after breakfast. Over time, the situation itself starts to prompt the action.

Cue ideas

• After brushing your teeth
• After parking the car
• Before opening your laptop
• When the kettle goes on

A Cleveland Clinic doctor advises taking very tiny steps so you succeed. Her one minute a day sometimes turned into two, and later into ten or fifteen.

Missing the occasional day did not seriously harm habit building in the research. Just start again the next day.

Apps and online programs are not all created equal. Experts suggest looking for resources from medical schools and universities, and checking that they are evidence-based.

The VA’s Mindfulness Coach app offers a step-by-step self-guided program and audio exercises for veterans, service members and others.

NCCIH suggests asking about a meditation instructor’s training and experience. Some programs, like MBSR, add group discussion and stress skills.

Questions to ask

• How long have you been teaching, and where did you train?
• What do you do if a student finds practice hard?
• Can I keep my eyes open or move if I need to?

Meditation is part of many traditions, including Buddhist practice, Christian contemplation and prayer, and Sufi practice in Islam.

See Buddhist meditation basics: calm & insight, and Meditation & spiritual practices.

1. Open your eyes and look around the room.
2. Name a few things you can see.
3. Press your feet into the floor.
4. Stand, stretch or do something ordinary, like making tea.

See Grounding & calming skills for more ways to come back to the here and now.

• Choosing sounds or your hands as an anchor instead of the breath
• Keeping your eyes open
• Moving practices like walking
• Shorter sits
• Working with a trauma-informed therapist

NCCIH suggests telling your health care providers about any complementary approaches you use, including meditation.